Thread 15 - TalkLair: “I Can't Lie To You About Your Chances, But... You Have My Sympathies.”

[Kucinghitam]

(Previous thread 14).

Autumn seems to have gone straight into winter. It's cold, wet and windy. In the TalkLair, the hearth is glowing, the walls covered in dubious artwork, books by non-approved authors line the shelves, rugs are down on the floors (and assorted pets curled up on them). The denizens of the lair are a welcoming bunch though, always eager for general chit-chat on all manner of topics.

We just won’t mention the gnawed bones of our prey over there in the corner of the cave…

@Kucinghitam I didn't think they would try it but you never know. My brother had a trip to Iceland once and he tried some and said it was disgusting. In general he'll eat anything, so that's pretty strong coming from him.

The geothermally heated tomato greenhouse sounds fascinating and very useful indeed.

I would love to go to Iceland!

On the desirability of otherwise of East Grinstead: I once went to a wedding just near it. As a location it sounded so unpromising but the venue was beautiful and it’s probably the poshest wedding I’ve ever been to. Also, Winnie the Pooh came from just near there.

Lucky anyone who has been to Iceland, but slightly prompted by that - was it half term last week? (In Ireland it's next week)

Depends on the county and the school. DC are in private school so they had last week and this coming week. The state schools around here have half term this coming week only.

So another week of (possibly faux) naive questions, wild assertions and all-round muddled thinking? Joy.

Not in your house, obviously.

Glyndebourne (opera) is also very near East Grinstead - I think it's just the name that makes it sound really naff. Like the rather lovely country house that was owned by WS Gilbert, of Gilbert and Sullivan, which is called Grimsdyke.

A rather bizarre dog-hating thread has popped up here: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/chat/5196999-dogs-are-everywhere?page=1

I'm very much a Cat Person, and can pretty much take or leave most (not all) dogs. In fact, quite a lot of them I like. But frankly, I'd be more inclined to ban small children from shops, cafes and restaurants.

I've just posted on there about the French bulldog I encountered today while singing at Llandaff Cathedral. She was coming up to the Communion rail with her owner. I met her properly afterwards and she was rather doleful but sweet. I am a total sucker for dogs, and recommend the "My Dog Is A Tw*t" (their asterisk) group on FB - it is approximately 2/3 spaniels most of the time.

I have not had a notification from this thread for days and have just spent the last half hour catching up with it.

Wonderful photos @SinnerBoy , glad to hear your progress continues @MouseMinge , nice that @Kucinghitam's DC enjoyed Iceland, ami pressed by the longevity of @duc748's motorbike and interested in the apple discussion. There, that's me caught up.

In me me me news I am currently in an Air BnB in Hertfordshire visiting children and granddaughters and being mercilessly fleeced by the latter who know that grandma's duty is to spoil grandchildren. I'm maintaining contact with DH via FaceTime and going home the day after the election (I voted early before leaving), by which time we'll know roughly what the result is and whether riots have broken out. Ah, democracy!

I’d forgotten Glyndebournd was near there. I went once with a friend from university whose parents saw every production. They lived somewhere nearby and were definitely the poshest people I knew.

I seem to remember going to the restaurant at Grimsdyke House in my teens. I think it was the smartest place in the general area (as in, places my mum was prepared to drive).

I suddenly developed allergies about six years ago and in the last three years they’ve become quite severe. Last year I was sent for skin prick testing and discovered I was allergic to dogs. Among other things I was also tested for an allergy to cats. I made a mental note of which prick contained Cat and then watched my arm, nervously willing it not to react. Cat was thankfully one of the few allergens I scored 0 on.

When I had skin prick allergy testing the strongest reaction was to camels, but fortunately they're relatively easy to avoid. It's only just occurred to me to wonder why they tested for it.

I don't think I got a single 0, though. Unbroken double row of itches all the way up my arm.

Allergic to camels, eh? That's rather niche, it's a food job you're not a Bedouin!

Middle aged female bodies suddenly becoming allergic to the good things in life is such a pita.

Was it through the NHS? There was nothing as exciting as that in mine!

I was only tested for common pollens, spores, dust mites, cats and dogs. They said if I just reacted to one or two they could potentially offer immunotherapy but unfortunately I reacted to 8 out of 12. I think it’s the spores that bother me the most as autumn through to early spring is always the worst.

How do you manage yours @NoBinturongsHereMate? Antihistamines and steroid sprays don’t seem to do anything much for mine.

It was NHS, but nearly half a century ago. At the London hospital that I think at the time was the only specialist allergy place.

Antihistamines and grumbling are my go-to treatments. And avoiding tirggers when possible - easier for camels and horses than dust and spores. I've tried various preventive eyedrops and nasal sprays. The former did very little and are virtually impossible to combine with contact lenses. And most of the latter do nothing apart from give me nosebleeds - apart from one, which I am actively allergic to. And I have prednisolone eyedrops for treating a really bad flare up (when my eyeballs start to blister) - fortunately not needed for many years now.

I find I have to switch antihistamines occasionally. Loratidine used to be my regular one but it just stopped working. Cetirazine is my my current one. The much hyped fexofenadine doesn't do a thing.

@NoBinturongsHereMate Camel allergy seems very niche! I can't quite imagine how you could have been exposed to enough of an extent to develop a sensitivity...

@SqueakyDinosaur @artant Grim's Dyke! That's where I got married, over two decades ago! We've been back to visit occasionally - most recently in 2022, we took DDs to see it and had a very fine Sunday roast in the restaurant. It is, sadly, now part of a chain.

It made me laugh to know you're allergic to camels, Binturong!

I'm another middle-aged woman who has developed sensitivities. Mine are pollen, fungal spores and dust mites. For the pollen it starts about February when the hazel catkins open and goes on from there, then I get a brief respite during the depths of winter.

Biting insects are also a hazard, a bit of a nuisance in my job as every biting insect on the planet loves me. The miraculous Smidge keeps them away, though the occasional ant gets through. Smidge has been life-changing for me and I wish I'd known of it earlier. The earliest in the year I've been bitten is February 2nd, when I was on a hedge laying course and there were gnats in the hedge.

My current go-to is also Cetirazine. I used to be okay with Piriton but it started giving me headaches.

What a splendid looking place to get married!

@NoBinturongsHereMate the steroid nasal sprays give me nosebleeds, too. I discussed this with the consultant who said that to avoid irritation I needed to spray it in my nostrils with the nozzle pretty much parallel to the floor and pointing away from my septum, but it hasn’t really made a difference. The worst thing about the sprays is how they sometimes alter my sense of smell and leave a disgusting taste in the back of my throat. I started using Sterimar in the summer which I’m finding the most helpful of all I think.

Blistering eyeballs sound like the stuff of nightmares, I didn’t know that was a thing. The worst I’ve had is little blisters forming in the very edges of my eyelids and I wanted to claw my eyes out. Thankfully I haven’t had that for a few years.

I also cycle between cetirizine and loratidine. I was recently given fexofenadine 180 but find it the least effective. I took some yesterday but was up half the night coughing and sneezing.

Now condensation season has arrived I need to start doing a weekly wipe down of the window seals. It’s a massive pain in the arse in the bedroom as the windows are floor to ceiling and the blind is so heavy. Plus the mould is very tricky to get out of the corners.

@Vegemiteandhoneyontoast I was relieved to discover I’m not allergic to dust mites. That was the allergen the consultant initially suspected so I really went to town on anti dust mite stuff, hoovering, dehumidifiers, air purifiers and constant bedding changes. At least now I know that there’s fuck all I can do about the allergens besides avoiding dogs, ventilation and reducing sources of mould as much as possible.

Isn't East Grinstead also Scientology central in the UK?

@VictorianBigot apart from all the cleaning and airing, what helped me was changing the bedding from down-filled to wool, as wool is supposed to be off putting to dust mites. Quilts and pillows filled with wool took a short time of getting used to but I now find them extremely comfortable and sleep far better. They weren't cheap but we'd just had a small legacy that covered the cost.

I developed a sensitivity to coffee, it makes me throw up 😭 Fortunately I can still drink tea!

I may also be getting more sensitive to lactose. I have to be restrained in my dairy consumption or there are, um, digestive effects.

Most recently, I've been losing hair in colossal amounts. It makes for extreme grossness in cleaning out the shower drain. And frequent combing of the carpets. And my hair just looks miserable and flat.

@Kucinghitam that sounds worrisome about your hair falling out. Have you been stressed or unwell lately? That makes my hair fall out.

Another annoying sensitivity is penicillin which I was fine with until my late 40s but now can't take any more as it makes me swell up and get covered in a massive rash of unbearably itchy hives. Non-penicillin antibiotics are horrible but do the trick.